The Mathematics in our

world
 LESSON 1.2
THE MATHEMATICS IN OUR WORLD
PATTERN - a structure, form, or design that is regular,
consistent, or recurring
 regular, repeated, or recurring forms or designs

Patterns can be found in nature, in human-

made designs, or in abstract ideas. They occur
in different contexts and various forms.
Because patterns are repetitive and duplicative,
their underlying structure regularities can be
modelled mathematically. In general sense, any
regularity that can be explained mathematically
is a pattern.
Different Kinds of Pattern

1. Patterns of Visuals
Visual patterns are often unpredictable, never quite
repeatable, and often contain fractals. These patterns are
can be seen from the seeds and pinecones to the
branches and leaves. They are also visible in self-similar
replication of trees, ferns, and plants throughout nature

Fractals – type of mathematical shape that are infinitely complex

- a pattern that repeats forever, and every part of the fractal,
regardless of how zoomed in, or zoomed out you are, it looks
very similar to the whole image.
FERN GREAT GEOMETRY ON THIS
SUCCULENT: ALOE POLYPHYLLA
PINE CONES PINECONES
Different Kinds of Pattern

2. Patterns of Flow
The flow of liquids provides an
inexhaustible supply of nature’s
patterns. Patterns of flow are usually
found in the water, stone, and even in
the growth of trees. There is also a flow
pattern present in meandering rivers
with the repetition of undulating lines.
2. Patterns of Flow

WATER RIVER FLOW WATER RIVER FLOW

GROWTH OF TREE
Different Kinds of Pattern

3. Patterns of Movement
In the human walk, the feet strike the ground
in a regular rhythm: the left-right-left-right-
left rhythm. When a horse, a four-legged
creature walks, there is more of a complex
but equally rhythmic pattern. This prevalence
of pattern in locomotion extends to the
scuttling of insects, the flights of birds, the
pulsations of jellyfish, and also the wave-like
movements of fish, worms, and snakes.
3. Patterns of Movement
 FISH
FLYING BIRDS LOCOMOTION
Different Kinds of Pattern

4. Patterns of Rhythm
Rhythm is conceivably the most basic
pattern in nature. Our hearts and lungs follow
a regular repeated pattern of sounds or
movement whose timing is adapted to our
body’s needs. Many of nature’s rhythms are
most likely similar to a heartbeat, while
others are like breathing. The beating of the
heart, as well as breathing, have a default
pattern
BEATING OF THE HEART
Different Kinds of Pattern

5. Patterns of Texture
A texture is a quality of a certain
object that we sense through touch. It
exists as a literal surface that we can
feel, see, and imagine. Textures are of
many kinds. It can be bristly, and
rough, but it can also be smooth, cold,
and hard.
5. Patterns of Texture

BARK OF TREE CLOTH

Different Kinds of Pattern

6. Geometric Pattern
A geometric pattern is a kind of
pattern which consists of a series of
shapes that are typically repeated.
These are regularities in the natural
world that are repeated in a predictable
manner. Geometrical patterns are
usually visible on cacti and succulents.
6. Geometric Patterns
CACTUS WITH CACTUS WITH
FLOWERS FRUITS
SUCCULENTS
PATTERNS FOUND IN NATURE
TALLEST WAVES
WIND WAVES
OCEAN WAVES - MUSIC OF NATURE
SAND DUNES
 ANIMALS
SPOTS ON THE SKIN OF GIRAFFE
STRIPES ON THE SKIN OF A ZEBRA
ZEBRA SKIN PATTERN
SPIRAL PATTERNS
RAM MALE SHEEP BIG HORN SHEEP
KUDU - LARGE AFRICAN ANTELOPES WITH
LONG SPIRAL HORNS
 SYMMETRIES
SYMMETRY means that one shape becomes
exactly like another when you move it in some
way: turn, flip or slide.
 indicates that you can draw imaginary line across

an object and the resulting parts are mirror

images of each other.
KINDS OF SYMMETRY
1. Reflection
2. Rotation
3. Translation
LINE OR MIRROR SYMMETRY
ROTATIONAL SYMMETRY- BUTTERCUP
FLOWER WITH FIVE PETALS
 TRANSLATIONAL SYMMETRY
STRUCTURE AND SHAPE OF HONEYCOMB
ANOTHER MARVEL OF NATURE’S DESIGN
SYMMETRIES IN NATURE
LEONARDO DA
VINCI’S
VITRUVIAN MAN
SHOWING THE
PROPORTIONS
AND SYMMETRY
OF THE HUMAN
BODY
ANIMAL MOVEMENT

KANGAROO
RADIAL & BILATERAL SYMMETRY
 RADIAL SYMMETRY
 symmetry around a central axis, as in
a starfish or a tulip flower
 the condition of having similar parts

regularly arranged around a central

axis
 STARFISH
RADIAL FIVE-FOLD SYMMETRY
TULIP FLOWERS
 SIX-FOLD RADIAL
SYMMETRY- SNOWFLAKES
WALLPAPER SYMMETRY
Honeycombs/Beehive
 OTHER TYPES OF SYMMETRY DEPENDING ON THE
NUMBER OF SIDES OR FACES THAT ARE SYMMETRICAL

SPIDERWORT WITH THREE-FOLD SYMMETRY

 FIBONACCI IN NATURE
Flowers display figures adorned with numbers of
petals that are in the Fibonacci sequence.
EXAMPLES
Classic five-petal flowers
1. buttercup
2. columbine
3. hibiscus
BUTTERCUP COLUMBINE
HIBISCUS HIBISCUS
EIGHT-PETAL FLOWERS

CLEMATIS DELPHINIUM
THIRTEEN- PETAL FLOWERS

RAGWORT MARIGOLD
NAUTILUS SHELLS WITH A LOGARITHMIC
SPIRAL GROWTH
 Learning
Activity 1.2
Pages 28 -29 of
Learning
Modules